Svechnikov Caps Come From Behind Win Over Columbus

RALEIGH, NC. - The Carolina Hurricanes scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to take a 3-2 victory from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Simple & Direct Hockey

Looking to rebound after a brutal 8-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, the Canes began the final contest in their five-game home stretch with a simplified approach.

Through the first 19 games of the season, we've heard Rod Brind'Amour say on a handful of occasions that the team was maybe trying to do too much, leading to their inconsistent play. Through the first 20 minutes of tonight's contest, it looked like that group was doing their best to adhere to that message, making the easy plays and getting pucks onto Elvis Merzlikins.

Albeit they outshot Columbus 18-8 to start the night, the game advanced to the second scoreless.

"The Trick Is To Not Get Frustrated"

Although Columbus came with more juice to start the second period, Carolina remained on the gas for the middle 20 minutes.

While the shot disparity was not as strong as it was to start the night, Merzlikins and Pyotr Kochetkov both did their part in ensuring that the game went to the finish scoreless.

Kochetkov, making his fifth start of the season and first career appearance against Columbus, was calm, cool, and collected, coming up with timely stops to avoid his team falling behind early.

Crazy Finish

After 40 minutes of searching for the game-opening tally, the third period could not have been more different.

Just 13 seconds into the frame, Columbus forward Kirill Marchenko put a knuckling puck on from the glove-side circle to Kochetkov, and it grazed both Brady Skjei and the young goaltender before making its way in.

Six minutes later, Johnny Gaudreau picked off an attempted stretch pass from Skjei and then shot one off of the Canes defender and in to make it 2-0.

Carolina was in a real hole and given the way Merzlikins was playing, the outcome looked bleak for the defending division champions.

But the group never gave up.

Instead of packing up the tent and moving on to Tuesday in Philadelphia, Brind'Amour and Assistant Coach Jeff Daniels made a switch at forward, one that proved to be an excellent decision.

Reuniting "The 80's line" of Teuvo Teravainen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Martin Necas, Kotkaniemi then got the comeback started with 9:59 to go in the third.

Finding a soft spot in the slot, he slipped between two Blue Jackets defenders and roofed one past Merzlikins, ending his shutout streak at 96+ minutes.

Restoring hope, the Canes kept chipping away over the ensuing five minutes.

Although they did not cash in, a power play during that time aided in creating momentum.

With Columbus on their heels, this time it was Skjei's turn for a puck to go off of him and into the correct net.  Sneaking up into the play, a blocked shot from Andrei Svechnikov was bouncing around in front, and before Seth Jarvis could locate it, #76 swatted it home to tie the game.

Giving the PNC Arena crowd plenty of juice, it was just a matter of time until Carolina closed the deal.

1:41 after Skjei's third of the season, and with just 1:59 to go in regulation, Svechnikov's highly-anticipated first goal of the season came at an opportune time.

Jarvis and Svechnikov worked to pry a puck free at neutral ice, worked into the zone, and the sharpshooter didn't miss.

Serving as the game-winner, it was the first tally for #37 since March 9.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour on his group falling behind 2-0 in the third and knowing Merzlikins was tough to beat, but never giving up...

"It kind of felt like 'here we go, it's just not our night', but I give the guys a lot of credit. There was no hanging their heads or anything, they just kept playing."

Andrei Svechnikov sharing thoughts on finally finding his first goal of the season...

"It's obviously kind of a relief, but I wasn't thinking at all [about it].  I know I didn't score for a few games, but I knew it was going to come.  It was just about the timing.  It was the right time and the right moment.  A huge win for us."

Brady Skjei describing just how much this win meant after Friday's performance...

"A win is a win.  We'll take a win in any way possible.  There's never a real panic on our bench and I think that's a huge strength of ours.  Even tonight, down two, no one didn't believe that we couldn't come back and win.  Any win, we'll take right now.  That was a good one and hopefully, we can carry it over into Philly."

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to practice and then fly to Philadelphia on Monday.  They'll then take on the Flyers on Tuesday night for an ESPN+/Hulu special (7:30 p.m.)

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